ISSDA Dataverse User Guide
What is Dataverse?
ISSDA uses the Dataverse platform to provide access to the datasets we hold.
Dataverse is an open-source archiving solution developed by Harvard. The name Dataverse references the structure of the software which consists of individual “dataverses”.
What is the structure of the ISSDA Dataverse?
The ISSDA Dataverse contains a number of sub-dataverses or collections which group datasets together in relation to particular research projects, studies or organisations. The datasets contain research data in different formats and accompanying documentation.
Creating and Logging in to Dataverse
Create an Account via Institutional Log-in
You can create an account with your institutional log in details. This will allow you to log in to the ISSDA Dataverse. To create an account in this way please complete the following steps:
- In the menu click the “Log In” link in the navigation bar
- Select the “Your Institution” button
- Using the dropdown menu, select your institution then click the “Continue” button to go to your institution’s login page. You can also select the “Allow me to type the name of my institution” button if you would like to start typing the name of your institution.
- After you put in your institutional credentials successfully, you will be brought back to the Dataverse installation to confirm your account information, then click “Create Account”.
If you cannot find your institution please use your institutional email to create a local account.
Your Username
When you create an account on the ISSDA Dataverse using your Institutional Login details a username will be selected for you. You won’t use this username to log in but it will appear next to your name and may be used by system administrators to help locate your account. To see what your username is, click on your name in the top right corner and click Account Information.
Creating a Local Account
If you are unable to log in via your institution, you can create a local account on the ISSDA Dataverse. Please use your institutional email address to create this account. We will be unable to approve any request coming from unverified accounts (for example: Gmail, Hotmail, QQMail).
To create a local account please follow these steps:
- Click “Sign Up”
- Complete the sign up form ensuring all required fields are completed
- Click the checkbox to confirm that you accept the general terms of use
- Click “Create an Account”
You will receive an email asking you to verify your email address. Please follow through the steps as guided.
Resetting a Password
If you are trying to log in via your institution and need to reset the password for your institutional login, please contact your institution’s IT support service as this cannot be done via Dataverse.
If you have logged in using a local account you can request a password reset through the Dataverse system. This will generate a password reset email. Follow the instructions to reset your password.
Edit Account
- To edit your account after you have logged in, click on your account name in the header on the right hand side and click on Account Information.
- On the top right of your account page, click on the “Edit Account” button and from there you can select to edit either your Account Information or your Account Password.
- Select “Save Changes” when you are done.
Please note that you cannot edit your account information within the Dataverse installation if you use the Institutional Log In option. Instead, you should contact your institution to change your name, email, etc. Once the change is made by your institution, it will be reflected in the Dataverse installation the next time you log in. Users of the Institutional Log In option are not required to verify their email address because the institution providing the email address is trusted.
Notifications
Notifications appear in the notifications tab on your account page and are also displayed as a number next to your account name. You will also receive notifications via email.
You will receive a notification or email when:
- You create your account
- You’ve been granted permission to access a restricted dataset
Notifications will only be emailed once, even if you haven’t read the in-app notification.
Please be aware that email notifications may mistakenly end up in your email spam folder.
Search
Finding Data
Basic Search
You can search the entire contents of the ISSDA Dataverse, including Dataverse collections, datasets, and files. You can access the search by clicking the “Search” button in the header of every page. The search bar accepts keywords, combinations of words,or exact phrases (in quotations).
A Boolean search can be carried out by adding the words AND, OR, or NOT to refine or broaden your search as needed. You can find more information on carrying out a Boolean search in (opens in a new window)UCD Library’s Finding Information Libguide.
To the left of the search results, there are several facets (such as keywords) a user can click on to narrow the number of results displayed.
Search results can be sorted by name (A-Z or Z-A), by date (newest or oldest), or by relevancy of results. The sort button can be found above the search results, in the top right.
Advanced Search
To perform an advanced search, click the “Advanced Search” link next to the search bar. There you will have the ability to enter search terms for Dataverse collections, dataset metadata (citation and domain-specific), and file-level metadata. If you are searching for tabular data files you can also search at the variable level for name and label. To find out more about what each field searches, hover over the field name for a detailed description of the field.
Viewing the Dataset
After performing a search and finding the dataverse or dataset you are looking for, click on the name of the dataverse or dataset or on the thumbnail image to be taken to the page for that dataverse or dataset. Once on a dataverse page, you can view the dataverses, datasets, and files within that dataverse.
Once on a dataset page, you will see the title, citation, description, and several other fields as well as a button to email the dataset contact. Below that information, the files, metadata, and version information for the dataset are available.
File Search within Datasets
Datasets containing multiple files offer a file search function. On the Dataset page, under the Files tab, you’ll see a search bar you can use to locate an individual file. It searches within the filename and file description. Performing a search will filter the file table to list only files matching your search. After you perform a search, if you’d like to return to the full list of files, just perform an empty search.
Under the search bar, you’ll see file search facets you can use to filter the dataset’s files by file type, access level, and file tags.
Accessing Datasets
Some of our datasets can only be accessed by users located in Ireland. Others are available to users in EEA countries or those with an adequacy decision in place. You can check if your country has an adequacy decision in place by checking this site: (opens in a new window)Data protection adequacy for non-EU countries
In addition, some of the datasets are available for teaching purposes, but not all. To check whether a dataset can be used for teaching purposes please check the Notes field or the “Terms” tab on the Dataset page.
To gain access to restricted files and datasets please complete the following steps:
- Search for the dataset of interest
- Register an account on the Dataverse platform
- On the dataset page click the “Request Access” button
- Download an ISSDA data request form from the dataset ‘Terms’ tab. Complete this form and email it to (opens in a new window)issda@ucd.ie for review by the ISSDA team
- Once your request has been approved you will be able to download the dataset directly through the Dataverse platform
Please note: an organisational signature is required. Please see our FAQs for more information.
Downloading Files
If you want to download all files in a dataset, you can click the “Access Dataset” dropdown on the dataset page and select one of the download options. The dataset’s files will download in .zip format.
If you’d like to download a single file or some subset of the dataset’s files, you can use the Files tab. To download more than one file at a time, select the files you would like to download and then click the Download button above the files. The dataset’s files will download in .zip format.
If you see a red lock beside a particular file this means that you must apply for access before the file can be downloaded. Please see the Access [link?]section of this guide for more information on this process.
Dataset Citation
You can find the suggested citation for the dataset at the top of the dataset page in a blue box. Our citations include a Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) which ensures that even if the location of the data changes, the DOI will always link back to the data.
Additionally, there is a Cite Data button that offers the option to download the citation as EndNote XML, RIS Format, or BibTeX Format.
Please note we provide a suggested citation only. You may need to adjust the citation depending on the reference system you are using.
Using API
API stands for “Application Programming Interface” and is supported by the ISSDA Dataverse. If you are interested in using this feature please see the official (opens in a new window)Dataverse Guide for more information.
Further Support
If your question has not been answered here please check out FAQs or contact us at (opens in a new window)issda@ucd.ie